Fence-post



(No Model.)

0. (1110s & J, F.-THOMAS.

. FENO-E POST,

110. 521,110. Patented June 5, 1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT .QFFICE.

CHRISTIAN 'GROS, OF DELPHI, AND JOHN F. THOMAS, OF CAMDEN,

' INDIANA.

FENCE- -POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 521,110, dated June 5, 1894.

Application filed January 17, 1894:. Serial No. 497,192. (No model.)

To to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHRISTIAN GROS, residing at Delphi, and JOHN F. THOMAS, residing at Camden, county of Carroll, State of Indiana, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Posts; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in fence posts of that class which employ a nondestructible base adapted to be planted in the ground and to support and maintain the post above and out of contact with the ground to prevent it from deteriorating; and the objects of our invention are to so construct the base and to connect the post thereto in a manner to effectually exclude the admission of water from the interior of the post and to prevent the latter from being burst by freezing of water therein; to prevent vertical displacement of the base; and to connect the post to the base in a secure manner and with ease and facility. I

With these ends in View, our invention consists, first, in a base made of vitrified earth,

vterra cotta, fire clay, stone ware or other suitable material, and provided with a flange which extends or protrudes beyond the side of the base, whereby the base is prevented from being drawn out of the ground by frost and held by said flange from vertical displacement.

Our invention further consists of improved means for holding the post in the base. To this end, we providethe base with a vertical socket at its upper end, which socket is made slightly tapering from its lower extremity toward the upper end of the base, and in this socket isfitted a plug which is expanded in the base-socket by driving the lower end of the post into the plug, whereby the plug is caused to bind tightly against the walls of the socket and the post is held from being drawn out of the socket. As afurther means for preventing the post from being withdrawn from the base-socket, we fill in the space between the post and the walls of the socket with asphaltum, coal tar or other suitable material; and as a still further means for holding the post in position, we provide a cap which fits in a depression in the upper end of the base and which has the post fastened thereto by a key which is inserted between the capand the post. To exclude the admission of water from the socket in the base, the upper end of the base is made sloping from the cap, and the cap in turn has its upper face rounded or sloping from the post to the slopingupper end of the-base. And the invention further consists in the construction. and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointedout in the claims. I

vWe have illustrated the preferred embodiment of our invention in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which 7 Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the base, the post being fastened thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the base with the post detached. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the wooden plug which is designed to expand the lower end of the post when the latter is driven to engage firmly with the walls of the post socket. Fig. 4. is a detail view of the post detached. Fig. 5 illustrates avertical sectional view through the base and a wooden fence post to illus trate the method of uniting the post to the base.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which-- A designates our improved base which is made or formed in a single piece, of proper size and suitable form, from vitrified earth, terra cotta, fire clay, or other earthen ware or stone ware material. The base may be made round, square or of other suitable form, and at its lower end, the base is formed with an integral flange or web, a, which protrudes beyond the vertical sides of the base and which operates to prevent vertical displacement of the base in the ground and to prevent the base from being drawn out of the ground by the action of frost. At the upper end of this base, we provide the vertical postsocket, B, which is made slightly tapering from its bottom toward its open upper end; and the upper end of the base is further provided with a concavity or depression, 1), and' with a sloping upper edge,b', the sloping upper edge 12 serving in connection with the sloping face of the cap, presently described, to shed the water and prevent it from entering the post-socket.

We have made provision for attaching either a metallic fence post to the base or a wooden fence post, the former being shown in Figs. 1 and at while the latter method is illustrated by Fig. 5.

The metallic fence post, C, of Figs. 1 and 4 is made of a suitable length of pipe which has its lower end provided with the longitudinal, tapering notches or slits, c, and this lower end of the post is adaptedto be driven upon an expansible plug, D. This plug, D, is preferably made of wood, and said plug is tapered, as shown by Fig. 3 5 the diameter of the plug being such as to enable it to be readily inserted into the socket B in the post and which, when expanded by being driven the post and the slitted ends of the latter into forced into the fibers of the wooden plug, will firmly bind the lower end of the post and the plug against the walls of the post-socket, whereby the plug and post are held in the base so as to prevent the same from being withdrawn therefrom.

E is the cap, which is preferably cast of metal in a single piece. This cap is provided with a central opening, 6, for the passage of the post, and with a transverse notch or key way, c, for the accommodation of the wedge or key, F which is adapted to bind against the post and hold the latter from displacement or deflection at the upper end of the base. The lower side of the cap, E, is bulged to conform to the shape of the depression or cavity in the upper end of the base, while the upper side of the cap is sloped or inclined, as at g, from its post-opening to its outer edges, which sloping surface joins with the sloping edge of the base and forms therewith a water shed to prevent the admission of water into the post socket. first planted in the ground in the usual way, and after the plug, D, has been fitted in the tapered socket in said base, the slitted or notched end of the post is thrust into the base and the post is driven upon the plug so that the plug enters the lower hollow end of the post and the prongs or slitted parts of the post penetrate the wooden plug and separates its fibers to expand the plug and cause it to bind tightly against the walls of the postsocket. The socket B is now filled with asphaltum, coal tar, or other material above The base is.

the expanded plug and around the post; and I the post and said cap.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings, we have illustrated the manner of fastening a wooden post to the earthenware base, in which embodiment of our invention we employ the short length of pipe or post, indicated at H. A hole or socket is bored in the lower end of the post, into which is fitted the upper end of the short length of pipe or post, 11, the latter having its lower end notched or formed with prongs to enable it to be driven upon the wooden plug and thus expand said plug and post to contact or bind firmly against the walls of the socket. The wooden post may be passed through the metallic cap and keyed thereto, or said short length of post, 11, may be passed through the metallic cap and keyed thereto while its upper end enters the socket in the wooden post and the latter is firmly secured to the short length of metallic pipe or post H, as will be obvious.

We do not strictly limit ourselves to the precise details of construction and form and proportion of parts herein shown and described as an embodiment of our invention, as we are aware that changes and alterations can be made therein by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of our invention, and we therefore reserve the right to make such modifications and alterations as fairly fall within the scope of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination of a base made of a single piece with a solid lower portion and provided with a vertically tapered socket in its upper portion, a post having its hollow lower end divided longitudinally and forming a plurality of wedge shaped projections, the plug fitting in the lower end of the post and expanding the projections thereof into tight frictional contact with the walls of the socket in said base, and a filling in the basesocket, above the plug therein, and around the post, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination with a post, of a base having a socket for the post and a cavity or depression in its upper end, a plug contained within the socket and forced by the post against the walls of the socket, a cap fitted around the post and within the cavity of the base, and a key engaging with the post and the cap, for the purposes described,

substantially as set forth.

3. A base provided with a socket, the sloping upper edge, and a cavity or depression within said upper end and the sloping edge,

combined with a post fitted in the socket, a In testimonywhereof we aifix our signatures cap fitted around the post and having its in presence of two witnesses.

lower side conforming to the cavity or depression and its upper side sloping from the CHRISTIAN GROS' 5 post-opening to the sloping edge of the base, JOHN THOMAS and means for fastening the post to said cap, Witnesses:

for the purposes described, substantially as GEORGE W. J ULIEN,

set forth. HARRY ARNOLD. 

